Lukay on Mar 24, 2013 in Commentary and TriviaCommunity LifeIt is customary for the majority of Filipinos who are Catholics to bring with them coconut palm leaves and fronds to church today in celebration of Palm Sunday which itself commemorates Jesus Christ's triumphant entry into Jerusalem and mar...

Here We Go Again on Mar 20, 2013 in Community LifeLocal News/OpinionsEvery right thinking resident of Mindanao knew when the electric power crisis in the island first made itself felt in 2010 (see blog posts here and here) that it was a serious problem that would take some time, a lot of serious consultation and,...

Blogging 101 on Feb 28, 2013 in Commentary and TriviaInternet and BloggingI was both surprised and more than a bit nonplussed to receive in the past few weeks more than a few e-mails from readers of this blog asking for some advice and pointers on how to start their own blogs or improve the blogs they have already started.

No Homecoming on Feb 4, 2013 in Commentary and TriviaI had not visited Cebu City for more than half a decade so it was with no small degree of trepidation and lots of excited anticipation that I flew into that city last January 18 from Butuan in order to join in the celebration of the 2013 Sinulog fest...

Hard Times on Jan 13, 2013 in Community LifeLocal News/OpinionsIn many areas all over the Philippines and particularly so in the Lianga area, it used to be that the coconut tree was the poor farmer's reliable cash cow. With the minimum of maintenance and care, even a small coconut farm of a hectare or so h...

Christmas Magic on Dec 24, 2012 in Community LifeFamilyOne of the saddest things about growing up as a child is coming to the age when one suddenly and disconcertingly realizes that much of what one has believed as wonderfully magical and enchantingly special about Christmas is actually mostly...

Still Lucky on Dec 20, 2012 in Community LifeLocal News/OpinionsNote: This post was supposed to be published last December 5 but mobile communication and internet services were cut off in the wake of Typhoon Pablo. It took Smart Communications fourteen days to fix everything and restore internet conne...

Biding Time on Nov 28, 2012 in Local News/OpinionsPoliticsVice-Mayor Robert "Jun" Lala is arguably, by what is considered the norm in Lianga politics, an unsettling aberration. Firstly he is just barely forty years old and therefore unseemly and irresponsibly young for a seasoned politician...

Revisiting Pugad on Nov 19, 2012 in Commentary and TriviaTourismOf the more well known beaches in Lianga, Pugad is the one that always evokes in me the most nostalgic of memories. In this sense, its very name which literally means nest in English is oddly appropriate. Every time I...